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Akron Canton Chapter Hosts International IaaS Webinar

Things don't always work out as planned. Occasionally they work out better. The Akron Canton Chapter "beat the plan” as we hosted our first international meeting on December 18, 2012. Here's how we found ourselves on the international stage.

Faced with the fickleness of northern Ohio weather, which threw rain, snow, and sleet on our winter meeting nights, the Akron Canton chapter decided to abandon face-to-face meetings from November through February. We redirected our energy into researching the possibility of holding webinars that would allow our members and local IT professionals to attend a meeting without "mushing through the snow.”

Working with our Microsoft IT Pro, Keith Mayer, we designed a unique webinar on using Azure to implement an IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) solution. The webinar was presented using Microsoft's Lync conferencing client, and featured a hands-on element in which attendees could use a free trial of Azure to follow along as Keith demonstrated the steps for creating virtual servers in the cloud.

As usual, we advertised the event in several LinkedIn groups and on Facebook. Within a week of posting, the webinar had 26 registrants. We were very pleased with that result as our average attendance is around 25. However, the good news continued. By the date of the webinar we had 69 registrants, and were amazed to discover that 17 of them were from outside the US! Other countries represented included: Canada (2), United Kingdom (3), India (2), Russia (1), New Zealand (1), Ukraine (1), Hungary (1), Brazil (1), Argentina (3), and Venezuela (2).

As 21st Century technology professionals, we need to creatively leverage all of the wonderful new technologies we have at our disposal. As AITP leaders, we should utilize the many resources available to us within the organization. The Akron Canton Chapter did that and, by so doing, has opened the door to attendees beyond our normal service area. Encouraged by our success, we are planning a second webinar for mid-February.